The ‘Life in Paediatric Oncology Project’ (LIPOP): Development and validation of a measure of work-related stressors and rewards

SPRU research team

• Suzanne Mukherjee
• Bryony Beresford

External collaborators

• Alan Tennant, University of Leeds

Project summary

Work on LIPOP is now complete. As a result of the project, two psychometric scales were developed. Both scales are freely available to non-commercial organisations on completion of the online registration forms:

• Work Stressors Scale - Paediatric Oncology (WSS-PO)
• Work Rewards Scale - Paediatric Oncology (WRS-PO).

Manuals describing the WRS-PO and the WSS-PO are now freely available for download.

Background

Research on adult oncology staff indicates risk of burnout and psychiatric morbidity, with some evidence of a rise in recent years. These findings have implications for sickness absence, job retention, and quality of care to patients. Whether or not these findings can be generalised to staff working in paediatric and adolescent oncology is questionable since the needs of children are different from adults, as are the skills required by staff who care for them. In addition, children experience different malignancies and more dose-intensive therapies.

Evidence regarding paediatric and adolescent oncology staff is very limited, consisting predominantly of exploratory research on the stressors experienced by nursing staff and one (non-UK) study of psychiatric morbidity among nurses. There is, therefore, a need for further research on this topic and this requires a measure of work-related stressors and rewards so that factors which increase or decrease the risk for burnout and psychiatric difficulties can be understood.

Purpose of the study

The purpose of this project is to develop a measure of the work-related stressors and rewards experienced by staff working in multi-disciplinary teams in paediatric and adolescent oncology treatment centres (doctors, nurses, social workers, play specialists and youth workers). No such tool currently exists. In addition to being useful for future research investigating burnout in paediatric and adolescent oncology staff, such a measure could be used to facilitate early identification of, and interventions for, staff at risk of burnout and psychological distress.

Additional information